JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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All in all things have gone according to script (for the most part at least) two weeks into the 2020 season. Hard to take a lot away from the Binghamton game as they were so over matched, but it was good to see SU dominate where it should (Defensively at X, indiv matchups etc) and the D appear to look more cohesive although again you have to take the opponent into context. I thought the Bingo goalie played very well but its still never a great sign when a goalie stands on his head especially going into a game where the Army goalies save % is a ludicrous 84%. That said it was clear SU had little to worry about from a scoreboard perspective so guys were letting it fly early and often. Hated to see Berkman go down late with what is probably an ACL but the rest of the squad coming out healthy was a good sign.
Again hard to have to many takeaways from this type of game, but it was nice to see Cook have 5 pts and really continue to play within himself. Every member of the 2nd line had at least 1 point and that continues to be a very dangerous line despite Buttermore being off to a semi-slow start at least to his standards. I thought Fernandez really rebounded well after a slow start vs Gate, he had 6 Gb's and really looked like himself. I could be wrong but it looked like Helmer didn't see as much time and Landon Clary saw some backup minutes. Always good to build some depth and I know the staff was pretty high on both frosh lsms. I think Helmer is going to really have to play a key role here over the next few games. Nothing overt stuck out to me on the close defenders besides Kennedy absolutely dominating again so curious if anyone has anymore detailed thoughts there. Dearth and Aviles are a really nice 1-2 punch at SSDM, Aviles has really come on as a true frosh and has been impressive. A very under the radar recruit who should have gotten more pub. Always good to see the younger guys and those a bit buried on the depth chart get some run. Kim scored a real nice goal and Garlow looked like Danny Brennan re-incarnated out there. A nice easy going win that will unfortunately probably be the last one we see for the rest of the year with this schedule. Not to beat a dead horse yet again but a St. Bonaventure or other lower NY team later in the season would have been a real nice break for the team and get another W on the record but were staying with the 12 game schedule apparently, sorry rant over.
Sundays Army game is going to be a very interesting barometer to where this team is at as they have pretty much annihilated their first 3 opponents including two top 20 teams in Rutty and Umass. I think were all pretty familiar with Army so I am not going to get crazy in depth but their current play is definitely a bit of surprise. With losing so much to graduation I expected at least a slight step back for the team specifically on defense. Instead they have looked better then last years team (so far) and have given up an average of 3 goals a game with their goalie Schupler at an absolutely ridiculous .838 save %. I watched a quarter and a half of their game vs Rutty and some highlights form the other two. By the way the full RU game is on youtube, if you have some type give it a watch. What's most evident to me so far is how much they are getting out of their midfield. Normally Army is usually strong in one spot on offense but weak at the other. This year they appear to have good balance and have some nice pieces on their second mid line which is rare for the academy teams as quality depth is usually a major concern. Their 3rd and 4th leading scorers are 2nd line middies (pending results of tomorrow's Marist game). Can't recall the last time Army really had a serviceable 2nd mid line so that is huge for Alberici. They also have a new FOGO in Frosh Stevie Grabher who is at 67% at the X albeit against very weak competition besides the Umass game where Army finished just under 50% for the game.
So what does this mean for SU? Well the first thing is the Defense is really going to be tested. Army looked very comfortable initiating from the midfield against Rutty with a lot of success. Nichtern only finished with 3 assists versus Rutty but obviously he didn't need to do much when they were up big most of the game. The other two starting attackmen are two big Sr attackmen that SU is very familiar with in Sean O'Brien and Miles Silva. SU matched up with those two pretty well last year as they had 1 pt between them. O'Brien is a crease guy and dangerous as Nichtern and the middies are drawing so much attention he's getting a lot of doorstep looks and has 3 goals in every game so far. Should Mellen be back (god willing) I think Kennedy may take O'Brien if not this will probably fall to Dipetro. Army's starting midfield is a two Sr. group that again SU should be very familiar with; Matt Manown, and Connor Dewitt along with Sophmore Gunner Phillipp. I think Phillipp was hurt last year but from what I saw he was very active and not afraid to shoot. Manown whose brother plays at Duke has given us issues in the past. He was 2-1 last year against us and I think he will draw Fernandez/Helmer. Army's second line middies have been impressive as I noted above with Morin and Abshire having 12 goals between them. SU will need to be careful not let their guard down when they are in as they didn't hesitate to shoot and put some nice shots on cage. Dearth will really need to be on his game along with Aviles and Dami if he plays. Porter will face his first real test as well and we will need him to be up to the task big time. Obviously Mellen playing would be a big boost, I don't expect him to but hopefully good news is forthcoming.
Army's wins have been impressive so far but you wonder a bit about the competition as Umass lost a lot to graduation and NJIT is well NJIT. Still the Rutty win and holding that offense to only 4 goals was eye opening. Army's D has been dominant so far which appears to have been through a combo of good faceoff number, immaculate goalie play, and just good solid Army defense. That said an .800+ save % is clearly not sustainable and SU will be by far the best offense Army has seen this year, Rutty's attack unit not withstanding. Sr Tom Rigney appears to be Army's #1 cover guy. I suspect he will take Scanlan or Rehfuss (most likely Scanlan). Marcus Hudgins is the #2 guy, a very athletic former LSM's who had a big game against Umass. Beyer is the starter at LSM and they have a Sr with a lot of experience as their main SSDM. I am interested to see how Army attacks the SU offense. I feel its likely they will put Rigney on Scanlan and probably Hudgins on Rehfuss. Cook will draw the weakest close defender and needs to initiate the offense when he can. At the risk of Army doing it again this Sunday I have to think that as good as they have looked so far they are due to come back down a bit on defense. Rigby and the other guy are quality defenders but Surdick and Schultz the top two cover guys from last year were outstanding and I find it hard to believe there wont be some drop off. I would note that his past weekend Rutgers got some pretty good looks in the first half but either missed the cage or the Army goalie just made some great saves
This is a game where the SU midfield really needs to earn its publicity and praise. Army has a very good defense once again but I highly doubt their going to double poll the midfield and they don't normally play zone. Trimboli will almost certainly see a short stick and the either Curry or Dordevic will also get one. I suspect SU will try and attack through the midfield a lot and the 2nd line should see a lot of time as well. Good shot placement will be key, we will need to change angles and not telegraph shots. We need to finish in close better as well, the Bingo goalie had 2 or 3 doorstep saves that we needed to finish.
A few keys I will be looking at on Sunday
- What does the faceoff situation look like? SU dominated at the X last year and Army brings in a whole new crew this year. Their FOGO is a frosh and pretty much the main guy. Phaup *should have a slight advantage here but we will need our wings to be on point as Army destroyed RU and Umass on GB's and SU needs an effective counter there.
Penalties - We didn't have any against Bingo which was nice as the man down unit was abysmal against Colgate. We need to limit penalties and the man down unit has to be a lot better.
Man up Unit - Took an O fer against Colgate and really hasn't looked good at all through 2 games. I assume the staff wont make any changes (at least not yet) but would love to see Buttermore get a shot on the man up. Lindsay Kramer if your reading this please ask Desko in the next PC
Goalie play - Porter pretty much matched Baretto last year and he was a monster for a good stretch of the season. That said the D and Porter's play suffered late in the year versus UNC and Loyola and the unit overall was only so/so against Gate. Need the entire unit to play better but we will likely need Porter to steal a few on Sunday like Army's goalie has.
Lastly Turnovers - We haven't been terrible with 10 versus Gate and 13 versus Bingo but we haven't been good either. 13 versus Bingo is way way to much. Army's opponents are giving up over 20 times a game so far but Army is also turning it over themselves 17 times a game. SU needs to be at 10 or less this game. Turnovers and GB's are always critical against Army.
Again hard to have to many takeaways from this type of game, but it was nice to see Cook have 5 pts and really continue to play within himself. Every member of the 2nd line had at least 1 point and that continues to be a very dangerous line despite Buttermore being off to a semi-slow start at least to his standards. I thought Fernandez really rebounded well after a slow start vs Gate, he had 6 Gb's and really looked like himself. I could be wrong but it looked like Helmer didn't see as much time and Landon Clary saw some backup minutes. Always good to build some depth and I know the staff was pretty high on both frosh lsms. I think Helmer is going to really have to play a key role here over the next few games. Nothing overt stuck out to me on the close defenders besides Kennedy absolutely dominating again so curious if anyone has anymore detailed thoughts there. Dearth and Aviles are a really nice 1-2 punch at SSDM, Aviles has really come on as a true frosh and has been impressive. A very under the radar recruit who should have gotten more pub. Always good to see the younger guys and those a bit buried on the depth chart get some run. Kim scored a real nice goal and Garlow looked like Danny Brennan re-incarnated out there. A nice easy going win that will unfortunately probably be the last one we see for the rest of the year with this schedule. Not to beat a dead horse yet again but a St. Bonaventure or other lower NY team later in the season would have been a real nice break for the team and get another W on the record but were staying with the 12 game schedule apparently, sorry rant over.
Sundays Army game is going to be a very interesting barometer to where this team is at as they have pretty much annihilated their first 3 opponents including two top 20 teams in Rutty and Umass. I think were all pretty familiar with Army so I am not going to get crazy in depth but their current play is definitely a bit of surprise. With losing so much to graduation I expected at least a slight step back for the team specifically on defense. Instead they have looked better then last years team (so far) and have given up an average of 3 goals a game with their goalie Schupler at an absolutely ridiculous .838 save %. I watched a quarter and a half of their game vs Rutty and some highlights form the other two. By the way the full RU game is on youtube, if you have some type give it a watch. What's most evident to me so far is how much they are getting out of their midfield. Normally Army is usually strong in one spot on offense but weak at the other. This year they appear to have good balance and have some nice pieces on their second mid line which is rare for the academy teams as quality depth is usually a major concern. Their 3rd and 4th leading scorers are 2nd line middies (pending results of tomorrow's Marist game). Can't recall the last time Army really had a serviceable 2nd mid line so that is huge for Alberici. They also have a new FOGO in Frosh Stevie Grabher who is at 67% at the X albeit against very weak competition besides the Umass game where Army finished just under 50% for the game.
So what does this mean for SU? Well the first thing is the Defense is really going to be tested. Army looked very comfortable initiating from the midfield against Rutty with a lot of success. Nichtern only finished with 3 assists versus Rutty but obviously he didn't need to do much when they were up big most of the game. The other two starting attackmen are two big Sr attackmen that SU is very familiar with in Sean O'Brien and Miles Silva. SU matched up with those two pretty well last year as they had 1 pt between them. O'Brien is a crease guy and dangerous as Nichtern and the middies are drawing so much attention he's getting a lot of doorstep looks and has 3 goals in every game so far. Should Mellen be back (god willing) I think Kennedy may take O'Brien if not this will probably fall to Dipetro. Army's starting midfield is a two Sr. group that again SU should be very familiar with; Matt Manown, and Connor Dewitt along with Sophmore Gunner Phillipp. I think Phillipp was hurt last year but from what I saw he was very active and not afraid to shoot. Manown whose brother plays at Duke has given us issues in the past. He was 2-1 last year against us and I think he will draw Fernandez/Helmer. Army's second line middies have been impressive as I noted above with Morin and Abshire having 12 goals between them. SU will need to be careful not let their guard down when they are in as they didn't hesitate to shoot and put some nice shots on cage. Dearth will really need to be on his game along with Aviles and Dami if he plays. Porter will face his first real test as well and we will need him to be up to the task big time. Obviously Mellen playing would be a big boost, I don't expect him to but hopefully good news is forthcoming.
Army's wins have been impressive so far but you wonder a bit about the competition as Umass lost a lot to graduation and NJIT is well NJIT. Still the Rutty win and holding that offense to only 4 goals was eye opening. Army's D has been dominant so far which appears to have been through a combo of good faceoff number, immaculate goalie play, and just good solid Army defense. That said an .800+ save % is clearly not sustainable and SU will be by far the best offense Army has seen this year, Rutty's attack unit not withstanding. Sr Tom Rigney appears to be Army's #1 cover guy. I suspect he will take Scanlan or Rehfuss (most likely Scanlan). Marcus Hudgins is the #2 guy, a very athletic former LSM's who had a big game against Umass. Beyer is the starter at LSM and they have a Sr with a lot of experience as their main SSDM. I am interested to see how Army attacks the SU offense. I feel its likely they will put Rigney on Scanlan and probably Hudgins on Rehfuss. Cook will draw the weakest close defender and needs to initiate the offense when he can. At the risk of Army doing it again this Sunday I have to think that as good as they have looked so far they are due to come back down a bit on defense. Rigby and the other guy are quality defenders but Surdick and Schultz the top two cover guys from last year were outstanding and I find it hard to believe there wont be some drop off. I would note that his past weekend Rutgers got some pretty good looks in the first half but either missed the cage or the Army goalie just made some great saves
This is a game where the SU midfield really needs to earn its publicity and praise. Army has a very good defense once again but I highly doubt their going to double poll the midfield and they don't normally play zone. Trimboli will almost certainly see a short stick and the either Curry or Dordevic will also get one. I suspect SU will try and attack through the midfield a lot and the 2nd line should see a lot of time as well. Good shot placement will be key, we will need to change angles and not telegraph shots. We need to finish in close better as well, the Bingo goalie had 2 or 3 doorstep saves that we needed to finish.
A few keys I will be looking at on Sunday
- What does the faceoff situation look like? SU dominated at the X last year and Army brings in a whole new crew this year. Their FOGO is a frosh and pretty much the main guy. Phaup *should have a slight advantage here but we will need our wings to be on point as Army destroyed RU and Umass on GB's and SU needs an effective counter there.
Penalties - We didn't have any against Bingo which was nice as the man down unit was abysmal against Colgate. We need to limit penalties and the man down unit has to be a lot better.
Man up Unit - Took an O fer against Colgate and really hasn't looked good at all through 2 games. I assume the staff wont make any changes (at least not yet) but would love to see Buttermore get a shot on the man up. Lindsay Kramer if your reading this please ask Desko in the next PC
Goalie play - Porter pretty much matched Baretto last year and he was a monster for a good stretch of the season. That said the D and Porter's play suffered late in the year versus UNC and Loyola and the unit overall was only so/so against Gate. Need the entire unit to play better but we will likely need Porter to steal a few on Sunday like Army's goalie has.
Lastly Turnovers - We haven't been terrible with 10 versus Gate and 13 versus Bingo but we haven't been good either. 13 versus Bingo is way way to much. Army's opponents are giving up over 20 times a game so far but Army is also turning it over themselves 17 times a game. SU needs to be at 10 or less this game. Turnovers and GB's are always critical against Army.
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